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The Many-Colored Land
''The Many-Colored Land '' ("The Many Coloured Land" in the UK) is the first book of the Saga of the Pliocene Exile (or the Saga of the Exiles in the UK) by American author Julian May. It sets the series up by introducing the story of each of the characters. The main purpose of the book is to provide information for the rest of the series, only beginning the main storyline in its final part. Characters Galactic Milieu ;Théo Guderian ;Angélique Guderian :See Madame Guderian below. Human Exiles Group Green ;Elizabeth Orme Elizabeth was a talented metapsychic practitioner on the human colonized planet Denali, but suffered severe injuries which resulted in the loss of her metafaculties. Unable to cope with the trauma of this, she traveled to the Pliocene hoping to travel freely in a hot air balloon. But in an ironic twist, the shock of time travel caused her operant powers to return. The Tanu race regard her with awe as no other metapsychic operants have come through the gate in recent memory, and treat her as something of a celebrity. ;Aiken Drum A persistent troublemaker, young Aiken Drum refused to be bent to the will of society. Offered the choice of incarceration, docilization or euthanasia, he instead chose Exile to the Pliocene. Always landing on his feet, his quick wits and schemes earned him respect from his fellow time travelers, and his latent metapsychic abilities earned him a silver torc from the Tanu. But a greater future lies ahead for this maverick Scot. ;Felice Landry Felice starts the book as a tremendously talented athlete, with apparently superhuman strength and forceful personality. She chooses to go into Exile when she is banned from her sport, two other players accused her of deliberately hurting them. In Exile, she discovers her powers are stronger than she had previously expected but refused to be taken by the Tanu. Later in the book, Felice joins the Lowlives helping them discover that 'Blood-Metal' (aka iron) can kill the 'Exotics'. She is determined to get a gold torc throughout the book, confident that it will make her powerful enough to take on the Tanu. ;Richard Voorhees Richard is an ex-spacer who came to Pliocene after being sued by a space crew who he refused to help while on a mission for a client. Richard tries to act tough throughout the book and often refuses to help other people, especially the Lowlives, but always comes through for them in the end. Richard is most notable in the book for killing the first Tanu to die in the book, in the process discovering iron to be a potent weapon against them. As an all-around navigator, he helps the Lowlives find the Ship's Grave which may be the key to freeing Pliocene humanity from the Tanu. He also flies the aircraft at the end of the book being the only one with enough experience to work out how. Results from Lady Epone's metapsychic testing at Castle Gateway (all latent): *Creation +2.5 *Coercion -2.5 *Psychokinesis -7.0 *Farsensing -6.0 *Redaction -1.0 ;Bryan Grenfell Bryan works as an in the Galactic Milieu but goes into Exile in pursuit of his love, Mercy. When he arrives in the Many Colored Land, due to his scientific expertise, he is regarded as special by the Tanu, who allow him to work bareneck, (without a torc) while he is there if he will perform an analysis of the impact of Humanity on the Tanu society as requested by King Thagdal. In the time where Bryan is the main view-point he often quotes by : :There is a lady sweet and kind, :Was never face so pleas'd my mind; :I did but see her passing by, :And yet I love her till I die. ;Stein Oleson Big and strong with blonde hair, he is a former crust driller and engineer for the energy tunnels that criss-cross Galactic Milieu era's Earth providing unlimited power to her citizens across the world. Feeling like a misfit in this era of civilization and alien races, even his dangerous job as a planetary crust-driller could not satisfy his restless spirit, nor heal his deep-seated psychological traumas that left him a misfit. He hopes to find a simpler, adventuresome life for himself in the past. He came to Exile dressed in Viking costume complete with a large steel battle-axe. ;Claude Majewski A Polish widower with silver gray hair, no other body hair, and a muscular build. Looks about 50 years old while actually being 133 years of age and is an exopaleontologist. Enjoys long mountain hikes. Met Sister Roccaro while she was caring for his dying wife and decided to look after her in her new mission in the exile world. ;Amerie Roccaro Sister Roccaro is 37 years old and a Catholic Nun. She is a long time hospice caregiver who longs for the hermit-like asceticism of the long past, and become an Anchoress. She joins Claude hoping to find an isolated place to set up her hermatige. Results from Lady Epone's metapsychic testing at Castle Gateway (all latent): *Creation +3.5 *Coercion -3.0 *Psychokinesis -7.0 *Farsensing -7.0 *Redaction -7.0 Group Yellow ;Sukey An intelligent woman, but shy and lacking confidence. She is 27, has a strong will, and is kind. She has strong latent abilities. She has some anachronistic beliefs that she hopes to confirm in the Pliocene, but disovering that she is a strong latent Redactor (mental healer), being granted a silver torc and meeting the psychologically scarred Stein Oleson have changed her plans entirely. Other humans ;Madame Guderian Widow of the late Théo Guderian, inventor of the time gate to the Pliocene epoch. Longtime host to the Auberge that prepared would be time travelers for their journey into Exile. Eventually she herself passed through gate herself and becomes the leader of the Lowlives. ;Peopeo Moxmox Burke The last chief of the Wallawalla tribe. Almost as big as Stein, probably 40 years old, grey hair and a red skin. He used to be the judge of the highcourt in the state of Washington. He takes the role of the military leader and strategist for the Lowlives. He is (in the Pliocene) the leader of the Paskudnyaks. ;Basil Wimborne Someone who shares the love of the high wilderness with Claude in the Pliocene. He is locked with Claude and Richard in a guarded section of the Castle after they arrived in the Pliocene. He looks like a mountaineer, has an elongated face, ash colored hair and grey eyes. ;Dougal A robust (French?) man with a beard and hollow eyes in beautiful knight armor featuring a golden lion. He presumably lost his mind during the transfer to the Pliocene and presents himself as genuinely believing he is a medieval knight. ;Raimo A rope colored man with a silver band. He wears a flannel shirt, a black pants and lumberjack boots. He builds a friendship with Aiken. ;Yosh Japanese man who is a self-style and wears armor and weaponry of medieval Japan. ;Khalid Khan A weak-build man from Pakistan with fiery eyes and beard. He is a smith and under Peopeo Burke's command. ;Martha Big woman with black hair and a tired look. She had four pregnancies for the Tanu until she tried to kill herself, inadvertently escaping in the attempt. ;Stephanko ... ;Calistro 5 year old goat herder in the refugee camp. ;Sigmund Member of Paskudnyaks. Posture of a man with low fat percentage and hair like a broom. ;Denny Member of Paskudnyaks with a dark skintone. ;Langstone Member of Paskudnyaks. ;Gert Member of Paskudnyaks. ;Smokey Member of Paskudnyaks. Skinny with sharp-lined facial features. ;Homi Member of Paskudnyaks. He comes from Singapore and has bow legs. ;Uwe Goldenzopf Commandant of Paskudnyaks. ;Frankie Eyes poked out, castrated, hands cut off, covered in molten tar and driven insane by the howlers. The Tanu ;Lord Creyn Creyn is a kindly redactor, a specialist in healing, who takes Elizabeth under his wing. ;Lord Velteyn Aggressive and the leader of the Flying Hunt, Velteyn is the city lord of Finiah, site of the barium mine where the raw materials for torcs are produced. ;Nodonn Battlemaster Nodonn is a powerful psychokinetic and the battle champion of the Tanu, and the husband of Mercy, Bryan Grenfell's beloved. He is the leader of the Host of Nontusvel. ;Lady Epone Epone is the cruel coercive Tanu lady who oversees the transport of some of the prisoners from Castle Gateway, and also conducts their psychic testing. She is the first Tanu to be killed in the book, at the hands of her prisoners armed with iron. The Firvulag ;Fitharn Pegleg A liaison to and close ally of the Lowlives, Fitharn is a wise cohort of the Lowlife contingent and representative of the Firvulag. He often acts as scout in Firvulag controlled areas and acts a sort of diplomat between the humans and his people. ;King Yeochee IV Casual monarch of the Firvulag and a 'First Comer'. Not a giant, but savvy and powerful among his people. He has mixed feelings about helping and receiving help from the Lowlives. ;Sugoll Leader of the Howlers faction of the Firvulag, Sugoll is greatest in both power and grotesqueness among his people. ;Pallol One-Eye Grizzled and giant Battlemaster to the Firvulag. One of the 'First Comers'. Grudgingly accepts support from the Lowlives, but wishes their help was not needed. ;Kalipin Scarecrow A small ugly howler with thin arms and legs. Acts as a guide for the group of lowlives seeking audion with Sugoll and the Howlers. The Rebels ;Marc Remillard Mysterious and powerful leader of the Metapsychic Rebellion, Marc is only mentioned in passing by Elizabeth. See also * The Golden Torc * The Many Colored Land (film) External links Category:1981 novels Category:Books Category:Saga of the Pliocene Exile Category:Science fiction novels